Local religious leaders see ‘Code’

Like their counterparts worldwide, Newport-Mesa religious leaders have a straight-forward answer to the question: Is there any truth behind “The Da Vinci Code”?

But that doesn’t mean they won’t be seeing the film.

Newport Beach resident Brett Kunkle said he plans to watch the film to keep up on contemporary issues.

“Even though I think the message of the book is utterly false, there is no point in burying my head in the sand while the rest of my friends and neighbors go see the movie,” Kunkle said. “Besides, when you put Ron Howard and Tom Hanks together for a movie, it’s bound to be entertaining.”

Kunkle, a former youth pastor, engages student groups with discussions and mock-debates on evolution, atheism and biblical historical roots as a part of Stand to Reason, an organization that trains Christians for public “defense of the faith.”

Over the past few weeks several religious groups have presented articles, lectures, and multi-part sermons in an effort to rebuke the assertions “Da Vinci Code” author Dan Brown makes in the book. Brown has appeared in several interviews arguing that although the plot is fictional, the historical base behind his book rests on facts.

In his book, Brown writes that Jesus Christ was involved in a secret marriage, having a child and being a regular husband who, for political purposes, was reinvented as a deity three centuries after his death.

According to the Barna research group, as many as 45 million adults in the U.S. have read “The Da Vinci Code.”

People will more likely see the movie than read the book since movies have a broader appeal to today’s culture, said Rick McGee, a pastor at Newport Mesa Church in Costa Mesa.

“‘The Da Vinci Code’ is kind of the hot topic now,” McGee said. “We live in a media-driven, visual culture and, with the movie, more people will be exposed.”

McGee, who also plans to see the film, taught part of a two-week “Da Vinci Code” series, arguing that Christians need to study the evidence behind the historical figure of Jesus Christ before they accept Brown’s ideas.

Rabbi Mark S. Miller of Temple Bat Yahm in Newport Beach, said that although the topic has become increasingly popular in the news, the film will have little effect on the religious community.

“I think that people recognize the difference between fact and fiction,” Miller said. “It is not a threat to religiosity; it is just a good yarn.”

Cinematic fun or not, Kunkle sees the issues raised by the film prompting the public to search deeper into spiritual topics.

“I hope it causes people to talk about religious matters,” Kunkle said. “It is very easy to be caught up in the busyness of life and to ignore the big questions of life.”dpt.21-religion-davinci-BPhotoInfoUO1R5PD920060521izjf6fncCHRISTOPHER WAGNER / DAILY PILOT(LA)Movie-goers line up to purchase tickets to the first showing of ‘The Da Vinci Code’ at the Edwards Metro Pointe 12 theater in Costa Mesa.